


Sparks Fly

by themunak



Series: Following Footprints [2]
Category: Persona 4, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-02
Updated: 2013-02-02
Packaged: 2017-11-27 22:19:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/667103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themunak/pseuds/themunak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trust anything connected to Personas and Shadows to be overly complicated, but this? This tournament is over the top.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sparks Fly

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't going to write this, but then I watched Naoto's story mode and the bug bit. As 'Bonds Between Us' was written before I watched P4A, it contradicts a lot of facts such as Naoto leaving Inaba instead of staying (it's been my personal headcanon for a long while).
> 
> Here, P4A happens a few months after P4 instead of just two and Naoto's meeting with that unnamed officer still takes place in Inaba on the same day, but the other canon events are pushed to later dates to accommodate the previous fic. I'll also be calling the Protag 'Yu' for the duration of the series, but as I'm used to calling him by his manga name, any mention of him being 'Souji' is a mistake I somehow missed. In addition, tags, warnings and characters will be added as I go along.
> 
> This series assumes you have detailed knowledge of P4A, or at least Naoto's route, because I cant write every little thing down. If you haven't played it yet, you can go the cheap way and watch videos on YouTube.

They give her four tubes for now, as part of her testing to see if she's worthy, but should one try to search her, only two can be found on her coat.

The other two are tucked into her hat, behind a flap she'd sewn on there for that specific reason.

Naoto's nothing but efficient and constantly prepared.

For now, all four remain empty. She has no interest in taking demons at the moment, and Raiho has earned himself a spot by her side. For now, she has to do her other duty, the one she put on hold for the clan.

Despite living in the village of devil summoners, information on the Kirijo Group, Personas and Shadows is scarce and it seems all they know are demons (the line between them are defined but can seem blurred at times), and Naoto has had to put out feelers outside of the clan.

It's for this investigation that the clan has let her out of its sight for a little while. According to the elders, she cant continue on with the summoner training unless she puts aside the outside world, and that means taking care of unfinished business. She suspects they're just humoring her because she's technically an outsider and not someone born in the clan itself like the esteemed Fourteenth.

It's difficult, choosing between the Kuzunoha clan and the rest of the world, but Naoto takes a third option-- with what she gains in the village, she'll put to good use as a proper detective. It's just only a matter of time.

(They've already taken away her phone and her laptop and now she's reduced to borrowing items for her grandfather while out on this special case for the Security Planning Division, but she knows well that this is only the beginning. And that some day, they may take away her name too.)

The training is beginning to show. She already has her gun, but she's starting to carry a knife on her person because sometimes bullets just wont work, and a gun is not a viable defense. She'd been offered a katana, but she's not strong enough to carry a sword.

(Yet.)

\--------

_"Are you ready to leave your old life to follow the path of the devil summoner?"_

_Her tongue feels like it's weighed down as much as her heart is. She knows the meaning behind those words, and knows the options available to her-- leave her job, her grandfather and the rest of her life in favor of gaining the knowledge and truths that this clan of her ancestor knows, or leave the clan and carry on with sleuthing on her own._

_The clan elders see her hesitation, and she catalogues their tells. Someone's lips thins, someone's jaw twitches, someone's eyes harden. They're not pleased at this newcomer who thinks she can be just as good as the Fourteenth._

_Raiho grips her trouser leg and Yamato Takeru is quiet. They're brimming with nervous anxiety. She cant blame them. Having no answer never leaves a good impression._

_Being a detective means you cant be unobservant, otherwise you'll miss out on important things. Naoto is already naturally observant, and she can tell that they're very close to sending her away._

_"Give the kid a chance, eh?"_

_She cant see the man speaking, as if he's not physically in the room, but Raiho seems to recognize whom the voice belongs to all the same with an excited 'hee!'_

_"It's not everyday we see some outsider have the kind of potential our folks have, and let's not get on the subject of actually seeing a descendant of one of our best summoners to date. It's not like they have time to put some buns in an oven, what with their jobs," the voice continues. "She looks like a tough one, been in some scrapes and such in the wide wild world-- unlike some of our homegrown kids. I say go for it."_

_It's only later that Raiho tells her the name behind the voice is Gouto. She has yet to see him or even hear from him again, but she's not one to forget details._

\----------

Hot on Kirijo Mitsuru's trail, Naoto arrives at a place she thought she'd never see again-- and yet here she is, back in Inaba. She allows herself a few seconds to be amused at the irony, coming back here on business, but not like before. She's not being paid by the local PD, she's not on an official case, she's not here.

It's disturbing to be back, to be honest. She has some good memories of her previous time in the small town, but there are also the bad. She remembers having to tell the police about the case while leaving out details that would not be believed by any sane person. She remembers the week spent sick and trying to recover from the trauma of being in the TV world and manifesting her Persona for the very first time. She remembers the horrors of having to face Shadows and fighting to survive.

(She still has nightmares of the ground opening up beneath her feet, darkness pulling her down and swallowing her up, choking the life out of her.)

Raiho is not here with her, having left him with her grandfather in case Kirijo as a Persona-user can see him and deem Naoto as suspicious. Which she actually is, but her work and reputation protects her from such thoughts and accusations. She hates that she's forced to act like a spy from the movies, but it couldn't be helped.

When she follows Mitsuru, and her two associates into the TV World, she reacquaints herself with the sensation of falling through space. Though for some reason, she thinks that this fall is longer than any she's ever experienced when entering that other world. However, without any way of actually measuring this, she cant know for sure.

In hindsight, she probably should have realized that the fall had just been foreshadowing something far bigger than anything she's seen so far.

Trust anything connected to Personas and Shadows to be overly complicated, but this? This tournament is over the top.

She has so many thoughts right now, so many questions piling up on top of one another, yet she knows they wont be answered till she goes on to the very end of this tournament.

(At the back of her mind, she wonders just how angry the clan will be with her if she tells them about this.)


End file.
